In The Margins: ShotSpotter gunfire-detection system leads to a first plea in Saginaw shooting

The first person Saginaw police officers arrested thanks to ShotSpotter technology has pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed weapon.

SN: Bingo! The SpotShotter gunfire-detection system works.

Gunshots are common in Saginaw, as shootings are in other cities across the nation. As Michigan's first city to install SpotShotter microphones in a neighborhood and computer software in police vehicles, it's a safe bet that a lot of eyes are on Saginaw's experiment in detecting and chasing down shooters.

Stephen D. Simmons, 18, who last lived at 1611 Williamson, pleaded guilty to the charge in Saginaw County Circuit Court this week.

ShotSpotter, the Police Department's latest high-tech tool, uses Global Positioning System navigation to triangulate the time and origin of gunshots. The city received a $280,590 federal grant in October to buy the device from Mountain View, Calif., -based ShotSpotter Inc.

SN: Many thanks to our Congressman Dale E. Kildee, D-Flint, for corralling that money, and helping to procure federal stimulus money that might be used to expand the system beyond its square-mile range.

ShotSpotter's computer software can tell the difference, most times, between gunshots and other sharp noises, such as car doors slamming shut and firecrackers. The information is fed into computers in each police cruiser on patrol.

The device recognized shots fired in the southeast end of Saginaw on May 18.

SN: Police won't disclose the exact location of ShotSpotter, but this is a clue. The system of microphones can be moved around the city to various hot spots, as needed.

Police Chief Gerald H. Cliff said that after officers arrived on the scene, they spoke to eyewitnesses who gave accounts of the shooting. Officers arrested Simmons near Hess and Robinwood.

SN: Technology can take police to the scene, and then good, old-fashioned police work must kick in.

Good for the witnesses who stepped up to their civic duty and helped police with their investigation, which led to an arrest.

When gunfire is detected, cameras are switched on in the area, the location given within feet, and a satellite image appears on police computers.

That's a lot of information, and it took a while, as police expected, to climb the learning curve of how best to use ShotSpotter.

"(ShotSpotter) was one of two crucial elements to providing probable cause (for arrest)," Cliff said.

SN: As "Star Wars" as this SpotShotter technology seems, it's just one more tool - a very expensive one - that police can use in their work to keep our city's streets safe.

It appears that police may show up more quickly in the right spots in response to gunshots in the city. That makes police more efficient, and may yield more arrests for gun crimes.

Yes, it's a costly technology.

But what price, safe city streets?

For Saginaw, a federal grant - and possible use of federal stimulus money to expand the system - means the city didn't have to dip into its own coffers.

We can't say yet whether it is worth every penny spent.

But it definitely shows some promise, and its message is clear:

Those suspected of violating city ordinances and state laws to shoot up the city will be caught, and hauled into court.

Circuit Judge Janet M. Boes is scheduled to sentence Simmons on Aug. 4. He faces up to five years and prison and $2,500 in fines.